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US mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato performs In War & Peace, part of the 2019 edition of Hong Kong’s Beare’s Premiere Music Festival.

Star mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato dazzles in evening of Baroque arias and instrumental music

  • From a sublime Dido’s Lament to a jubilant closing Handel aria, the American singer showed the full range of her singing
  • She was ably accompanied by period instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro

Joyce DiDonato and the period instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro captivated Hong Kong concertgoers in a programme made up largely of Baroque arias and works by Purcell and Handel and drawn from the Kansas-born star mezzo-soprano’s album “In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music”. The concert opened the 2019 edition of the annual chamber music event Beare's Premiere Music Festival.

In “Part 1: War”, DiDonato handled the virtuosic leaps in “Scenes of horror, scenes of woe” from Handel’s oratorio Jephtha with ease. Il Pomo d’Oro’s accompaniment was pulsating and beautifully played.

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The soloist’s versatility was equally impressive in Leonardo Leo’s “Prendi quel ferro, o barbaro!” as she switched effortlessly between moods of craziness and affection as Andromaca, the “fighter of men!”

Russian-born conductor and harpsichordist Maxim Emelyanychev’s peppery leadership brought the ensemble’s fine musicianship to the fore in two instrumental interludes: the Sinfonia by Emilio de’Cavalieri and Henry Purcell’s Chaconne in G minor. Il Pomo D’Oro sparkled with its taut, smooth inegal (unequal) playing and clean entries.

DiDonato’s rendition of “Dido’s Lament” from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas was sublime. Her wonderful sotto voce pianissimo was beguiling, as it was later in the foreboding “Pensieri, voi mi tormentante” from Handel’s Agrippina and “Lascia ch’io pianga” (“Let me weep”) from the same composer’s Rinaldo, which ended the first part in heavenly resignation.

US mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato performs with Il Pomo D’Oro at Hong Kong City Hall. Photo: Premiere Performances of Hong Kong

Handel dominated in “Part 2: Peace”. “Crystal streams in murmurs flowing” from Susanne was another ideal vehicle for DiDonato to demonstrate her impressive vocal control, while Il Pomo d’Oro aptly portrayed burbling streams in the accompaniment.

The mezzo-soprano’s wonderful coloratura blossomed in both “Da tempeste il legno infranto” (When the battered boat reaches safe harbour) from Handel’s Giulio Cesare and “Augelletti, che cantata” from Rinaldo. A fantastic frenzy of virtuosic birdsong in the latter aria broke out between DiDonato and the multi-talented baroque recorder player and violinist Anna Fuskova.

Peace from another world – one far removed from Handel and Purcell – came in the shape of contemporary minimalist Arvo Pärt’s “Da pacem, Domine” (Grant us peace, O Lord), played with a hauntingly hushed string sound.

Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo D’Oro treated the Hong Kong audience to an evening of high-calibre singing and instrumental playing. Photo: Premier Performances of Hong Kong.

Jubilation prevailed and DiDonato dazzled as Ariodante in Handel’s “Dopo Notte” with fluid flurries of coloratura as her character rejoiced over the lifting of Ginevra’s death sentence that ends nights of darkness.

Manuel Palazzo’s gentle dance movements on stage were subtly interwoven with the music throughout the evening, but finally in full flurry as DiDonato sang “My heart is delirious with joy” as an encore. The tissues came out as she concluded the journey with a heartfelt rendition of Richard Strauss’ “Morgen”.

Joyce DiDonato “In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music”, Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Reviewed January 16, 2019

 

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